Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Thinnish plot of seduction and redemption, May 1, 2008
This review is from: Never Trust a Scoundrel (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
Grace Banbury's life hasn't exactly been normal for a young lady. She's 24 and unmarried, she was rejected by a man she loved, and now it seems that her mother, an inveterate gambler, has lost their two houses through gambling. Grace's mother has disappeared and when Grace discovers the house has been lost to Mr Daniel Throckmorten she is horrified to discover he has also won the right to marry her.
Fortunately for Grace, Throckmorten doesn't want to marry her - or anyone else for that matter. However he does want a new mistress and eventually they find themselves in a wager; if he can tempt her to be his mistress within two weeks, he wins; if she holds out against his seductive charm she will be allowed to have a family heirloom, a rather special violin.
And so the story continues in what seems like an oft-trod direction. Man tries to seduce woman, woman is very tempted but tries to resist. Grace decides to try to redeem Daniel whose family have been rather scandalous in the past, Grace's gambling-addicted brother appears from time to time, there's another minor plot about someone who wants to marry Grace, but most of the attention is on Daniel and Grace.
The story feels rather lightweight most of the time with Grace able to behave in a most unlikely manner in a world when women were closely chaperoned. We see the story through both Grace's and Daniel's eyes and there are few surprises along the way. It's a reasonable enough read but didn't stand out in any way and towards the end the story was dragging a little too much for this reader.
Originally published for Curled Up With A Good Book, curledup.com. © Helen Hancox 2008
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Could have been so much better!, April 5, 2008
This review is from: Never Trust a Scoundrel (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
I agree with Harriet Klausner that it was a wonderful concept and everyone's character was true to the plot except Grace's. I kept thinking, "Can't she see what everyone else sees or will think of her?" After everything she's been through- losing her father at such a young age, having to save the family estate from her gambling addicted mother's devastation, raise her brother only to have him follow their mother into a gambling addiction too, having a sleazy ex-suitor taking her innocence and then discarding her, and then to find out her mother lost her, their homes, and a prized violin that was supposed to go to her eventually in a card game- she should have been much more angry, upset, mature, and leery of everyone around her.
Instead she still tries to help her brother and save the estate by making a very indecent wager with Daniel, the man who won her and didn't really want her or her homes in the first place. All he wanted was the violin. And in the end tries to save Daniel too. Huh? The author keeps having her say that she's worried about herself and her reputation but then has her behaving just the opposite.
Grace's character keeps making stupid decisions and acting totally immature and naive and just plain stupid to the world around her. It's like the author tries to have Grace seem worldly but instead she comes off as this stupid country miss that doesn't have a clue of what she's doing, but keeps doing it. And where was her anger and wariness? Could she just shed everything that had happened in the past as if it didn't traumatically affect her? I kept thinking if her reputation gets ruined- she has it coming! It's Daniel's worldliness and maturity, her brother growing maturity, and her friend's care and all their love- and just pure dumb luck- that saves her in the end. I truly think if the author had put the appropriate strong, mature female character into this book it would've been very, very good. Too bad it wasn't Grace.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
entertainingly brisk early Victorian romance, March 28, 2008
This review is from: Never Trust a Scoundrel (Avon Romantic Treasure) (Mass Market Paperback)
In 1845 in a game of cards, Lady Banbury assured of her hand raises the stake by anteing up her daughter. However, to her chagrin, Daniel Throckmorten takes the pot, which includes the virtue of Miss Grace Banbury.
Grace is stunned as not only is this out of character for her prim and proper mom; she lost to a noted rake whose family is always embroiled in scandal. However, Daniel may be amused by the affair, but he will never force a female into his bed. Instead his plan is to seduce Grace so that she voluntarily graces his bed. Grace assumes she can ignore his seduction and regain her freedom, but Daniel's kisses are hard to resist as she has fallen in love with the scoundrel who keeps raising the ante.
The "introduction" between the lead couple is a wonderful unique concept (unless you're Grace) that brings a distinct freshness to the nineteenth century tale of the romance between a rake and an innocent. Daniel and Grace prove to be much more than the stereotypes as they gamble on love while the eccentric support cast especially her gambler of a mother and his out of control family enhance this entertainingly brisk early Victorian romance.
Harriet Klausner
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
